1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a maintenance system for machine tools which has: one or more user management apparatuses connected to numerical control sections of one or more machine tools each including a driving mechanism section and a numerical control section for controlling the operation of the driving mechanism section; and a manufacturer management apparatus disposed on the side of a manufacturer who manufactures the machine tools, and in which the user management apparatuses and the manufacturer management apparatus are connectable to one another via the Internet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A large number of components each having its use limit, i.e. the life are used in a driving mechanism section constituting a machine tool. In a main spindle apparatus, for example, a bearing is used for rotatably supporting a main spindle. A coned disc spring is used in a clamp mechanism section for fixing a tool to the main spindle. Also in a feed mechanism section, a bearing is used for rotatably supporting a ball screw.
If the life of such a consumable component reaches the end thereof, it is necessary to exchange the component. If the life can be correctly predicted, a component to be exchanged can be previously prepared, or the corresponding component can be exchanged in an interval of operations in view of the production plan. Such an exchange is advantageous because the production plan is not disturbed by repair.
However, the life of such a consumable component is largely varied in accordance with the operating conditions of the machine tool, and hence it is usually difficult to correctly predict the timing when the life of the component is ended. When the life of a component is ended at an unanticipated timing and the component is broken, therefore, there arises a problem in that the machine tool cannot be operated in order to repair the component, and the production plan is disadvantageously disturbed. In another case such as that where there is no stock of components identical with the broken component and it takes a long time period to prepare the component, the machine tool cannot be restored for a long term, thereby causing another problem in that the production plan must be largely amended.
Depending on the operating condition of the machine tool when the component is broken, there may arise a case where also another component(s) is broken. In such a case, the repair requires an additional time period.
On the other hand, a manufacturer who manufactures the machine tool does not know when, which, and how many consumable components are required. Therefore, it is necessary for the manufacturer to always store a fixed number or more components as stocks for safety, in order to avoid a case where the component is out of stock when a user requires the component.
In addition, maintenance persons on both of the user and manufacturer""s sides are required to deal with such problems in their off-hours such as holidays or nighttime. Therefore, the working conditions of the maintenance persons are bad.
The invention has been conducted in view of the above-mentioned circumstances. It is an object of the invention to provide a maintenance system in which planned maintenance of a machine tool can be efficiently performed, and the rate of operation of the machine tool can be enhanced.
In order to attain the object, the invention provides a maintenance system for machine tools, comprising: one or more user management apparatuses connected to numerical control sections of one or more machine tools each including a driving mechanism section, and the numerical control section which controls an operation of the driving mechanism section; and a manufacturer management apparatus disposed on a side of a manufacturer who manufactures the machine tools, the user management apparatuses and the manufacturer management apparatus being connectable to each other via the Internet, wherein
each of the user management apparatuses comprises:
user-side operation data storing means for storing data relating to an operating condition of the driving mechanism section of each of the machine tools; and
data transmitting means for collecting data relating to the operating condition of the driving mechanism section from the numerical control section, for accumulating the data into the user-side operation data storing means, for checking whether a predetermined transmission condition is satisfied or not, and for, only when the transmission condition is satisfied, transmitting the operating condition data of the driving mechanism section accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means to the manufacturer management apparatus, in a data form of an electronic mail, and
the manufacturer management apparatus comprises:
manufacturer-side operation data storing means for storing operating condition data of the driving mechanism sections received from the user management apparatuses;
data receiving means for receiving the operating condition data of the driving mechanism sections transmitted from the user management apparatuses, and for updating operating condition data stored in the manufacturer-side operation data storing means with the received operating condition data;
consumption degree data storing means for storing data relating to a consumption degree of each of the driving mechanism sections;
consumption degree evaluating means for evaluating at any time the consumption degree of each of the driving mechanism sections, based on the operating condition data of the driving mechanism section stored in the manufacturer-side operation data storing means, and for updating consumption degree data stored in the consumption degree data storing means with the evaluated consumption degree data; and
alarm outputting means for monitoring at any time whether the consumption degree data stored in the consumption degree data storing means exceeds a predetermined reference value or not, and for, when the consumption degree data exceeds the reference value, outputting an alarm indicating this condition.
According to the invention, first, the data transmitting means of each of the user management apparatuses collects the data (operating condition data) relating to the operating conditions of the driving mechanism sections from the numerical control section of each machine tool, and the data is accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means.
As the driving mechanism section, for example, useful are a main spindle apparatus, a clamp mechanism section for fixing a tool to a main spindle, a feed mechanism section, and an automatic tool exchange apparatus. Bearings disposed in the main spindle apparatus, the feed mechanism section, and the automatic tool replacing apparatus, coned disc springs disposed in the clamp mechanism section, and the like correspond to components (consumable components) having use limits (lives). In addition to these components, the consumable components may include oil for an oil cooler, lubricating oil supplied and circulated in a gearbox, and a backup battery for backing up a memory in the numerical control apparatus.
The operating condition can be grasped as items relating to a main spindle rotation speed, a tool exchange instruction, a tool clamp/unclamp instruction, an axis movement instruction, and the like. The operating condition data is constituted by data corresponding to the items, and stored in the user-side operation data storing means while the corresponding items and data are correlated to one another.
It is checked at any time whether the predetermined transmission condition is satisfied or not. Only when the transmission condition is satisfied, the operating condition data of the driving mechanism sections accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means is transmitted to the manufacturer management apparatus in the data form of an electronic mail.
The transmitted operating condition data is received by the data receiving means. The operating condition data of the driving mechanism sections stored in the manufacturer-side operation data storing means is updated with the received operating condition data.
The consumption degree evaluating means evaluates at any time the consumption degree of each of the driving mechanism sections, based on the operating condition data of the driving mechanism section stored in the manufacturer-side operation data storing means. The consumption data stored in the consumption degree data storing means is updated with the evaluated consumption degree data.
As for the consumption degree data stored in the consumption degree data storing means, the alarm output means monitors at any time whether the data exceeds the predetermined reference value or not. If it is ascertained that the data exceeds the reference value, the alarm indicating the condition is output.
In the case of a bearing, for example, the consumption degree of the driving mechanism section is an operating amount at the present time caused by wear and the like of the rolling element, with respect to the operating limit. In the case of a coned disc spring, for example, the consumption degree is a fatigue amount at the present time caused by repeated load acting on the spring, with respect to the fatigue limit. The reference value is a value indicating that the life of a consumable component comes close to the end thereof. As the reference value, for example, a value which is 80% of the operating limit or the fatigue limit may be appropriately set.
As for the output form of the alarm, information of the driving mechanism section may be displayed on, for example, a screen of a display device such as a CRT disposed in the manufacturer management apparatus. Alternatively, information of the driving mechanism section may be printed out by a printing apparatus such as a printer similarly disposed in the manufacturer management apparatus.
As described above, according to the maintenance system for machine tools of the invention, the consumption degree of a driving mechanism section of each machine tool is evaluated and monitored at any time. When the consumption degree exceeds the predetermined reference value, that is, when the life of the consumable component of the driving mechanism section comes close to the end thereof, an alarm is output. Based on the output alarm, therefore, the manufacturer can easily know a consumable component the life of which comes close to the end thereof, and predict when, which, and how many consumable components are required. Consequently, it is unnecessary to store an excess number of consumable components, and the number of stocks can be greatly reduced.
The manufacturer can perform maintenance services for the users, such as that the manufacturer prompts in advance the users to replace the components or sends in advance a component required for the replacement to the users. Therefore, the service for the users can be improved.
On the other hand, the users can know the timing when the life of a consumable component is ended, based on the information supplied from the manufacturer, so that it is possible to systematically perform the maintenance of the machine tool by replacing the component before the life is ended. Accordingly, the operating efficiency and the productivity of the machine tool can be improved.
Since it is possible to systematically perform the maintenance of the machine tool as described above, disadvantages such as that the maintenance person must repair the machine tool in the holiday or nighttime can be eliminated.
Irrespective of the places where the user management apparatus as the source and the manufacturer management apparatus as the destination are installed, the operating condition data collected and accumulated by the user management apparatus can be flexibly transmitted from the user management apparatus to the manufacturer management apparatus, simply by designating the address of the destination. In addition, data without any omission in terms of time can be transmitted to the manufacturer management apparatus.
The data transmitting means and the data receiving means may have the following configurations, instead of the above-described configurations. Specifically, the data transmitting means is configured for collecting data relating to the operating condition of the driving mechanism section from the numerical control section, for accumulating the data into the user-side operation data storing means, for checking whether a predetermined transmission condition is satisfied or not, for, only when the transmission condition is satisfied, generating transmission data based on the operating condition data of the driving mechanism section accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means, and for transmitting the generated transmission data to the manufacturer management apparatus, the transmission data having a configuration in which a data element identifier defining an item relating to the operating condition of the driving mechanism section is related to the operating condition data corresponding to the item. The data receiving means is configured for receiving the transmission data transmitted from the user management apparatus, for analyzing the data element identifier in the received transmission data, thereby recognizing an item relating to the operating condition of the driving mechanism section defined by the data element identifier, and for updating the operating condition data of the driving mechanism section and stored in the manufacturer-side operation data storing means, the operating condition data corresponding to the recognized item, with the received operating condition data.
According to the configuration, in a manner similar to that in the above-described configuration, the data transmitting means first collects data relating to the operating conditions of the driving mechanism sections from the numerical control section of each machine tool, and the data is accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means.
It is checked at any time whether the predetermined transmission condition is satisfied or not. Only when the transmission condition is satisfied, a process of transmitting the operating condition data accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means is performed.
Specifically, the operating condition data of each driving mechanism section is organized into transmission data having a configuration in which a data element identifier for defining an item relating to an operating condition of the driving mechanism section is related to the operating condition data corresponding to the item. The data element identifier is a so-called tag. The item relating to an operating condition is defined by the tag. For example, the operating condition data is organized into transmission data having a structure in which the data is sandwiched by such tags. The transmission data generated in this manner is transmitted to the manufacturer management apparatus.
The transmitted transmission data is received by the data receiving means. The data element identifier is analyzed, and the item relating to the operating condition of each driving mechanism defined by the data element identifier is recognized. Among the data of the driving mechanism sections stored in the manufacturer-side operation data storing means, the operating condition data corresponding to the recognized item is updated with the received operating condition data.
The transmission data transmitted from the user management apparatus has a structure in which an item relating to the operating condition of each driving mechanism section and data of the operating condition are correlated with each other, so that the operating condition data corresponding to the item of the operating condition can be easily identified. Therefore, the data updation can be correctly performed. The items of data to be accumulated can be easily added and changed.
The data transmitting means may be configured so that it is connected to the Internet only when the operating condition data accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means is to be transmitted to the manufacturer management apparatus, the operating condition data is then transmitted, and, after the transmission is completed, the connection to the Internet is disconnected.
According to the configuration, the user management apparatus is connected to the Internet only when the operating condition data is to be transmitted, and hence safety from any unauthorized access and computer virus can be greatly enhanced.
The transmission condition may be a condition which is set for an amount of data accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means. In this case, the data transmitting means compares the data amount accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means with a reference data amount serving as the transmission condition, and, when the accumulated data amount reaches the reference data amount, transmits the operating condition data accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means to the manufacturer management apparatus.
Alternatively, the transmission condition may be a condition which is set for a time period required for the data accumulation. In this case, the data transmitting means compares the time period required for the data accumulation with a reference time period serving as the transmission condition, and, when the time period of the data accumulation exceeds the reference time period, transmits the operating condition data accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means to the manufacturer management apparatus.
According to the configuration, the operating condition data accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means can be appropriately transmitted at an adequate timing. It is possible to prevent data to be accumulated in the user-side operation data storing means from being discarded because the data amount exceeds the capacity of the storing means. Thus, the operating condition data can be made more correct.
In another aspect, the invention provides a maintenance system for machine tools, comprising: one or more user management apparatuses connected to numerical control sections of one or more machine tools each including a driving mechanism section, and the numerical control section for controlling an operation of the driving mechanism section; and a manufacturer management apparatus disposed on a side of a manufacturer who manufactures the machine tools, the user management apparatuses and the manufacturer management apparatus being connectable to each other via the Internet, wherein
each of the user management apparatuses comprises:
operation data storing means for storing data relating to an operating condition of the driving mechanism section of each of the machine tools;
data accumulating means for collecting data relating to the operating condition of the driving mechanism section from the numerical control section, and for accumulating the data into the operation data storing means;
consumption degree data storing means for storing data relating to a consumption degree of the driving mechanism section of the machine tool;
consumption degree evaluating means for evaluating at any time the consumption degree of the driving mechanism section, based on operating condition data of the driving mechanism section stored in the operation data storing means, and for updating consumption degree data stored in the consumption degree data storing means with the evaluated consumption data; and
consumption degree transmitting means for monitoring at any time whether the consumption degree data stored in the consumption degree data storing means exceeds a predetermined reference value or not, and for, when the data exceeds the reference value, transmitting information of the consumption degree in the form of an electronic mail to the manufacturer management apparatus.
According to the invention, first, the data accumulating means of each of the user management apparatuses collects data relating to the operating conditions of the driving mechanism sections from the numerical control section of each machine tool, and the data is accumulated into the operation data storing means.
The consumption degree evaluating means evaluates at any time the consumption degrees of the respective driving mechanism sections, based on the operating condition data of the driving mechanism sections stored in the operation data storing means. The consumption degree data stored in the consumption degree data storing means is updated with the evaluated consumption degree data.
As for the consumption degree data stored in the consumption degree data storing means, the consumption degree transmitting means monitors at any time whether the data exceeds the predetermined reference value or not. If it is ascertained that the data exceeds the reference value, the information relating to the consumption degree is transmitted to the manufacturer management apparatus in the form of an electronic mail.
As described above, according to the maintenance system for machine tools of the invention, the consumption degree of the driving mechanism section of each machine tool is evaluated and monitored at any time. When the consumption degree exceeds the predetermined reference value, that is, when the life of a consumable component of the driving mechanism section comes close to the end thereof, information of the consumption degree is transmitted from the user management apparatus to the manufacturer management apparatus. Based on the transmitted information, therefore, the manufacturer can easily know the consumable component the life of which comes close to the end thereof. Consequently, both of the manufacturer and the user can enjoy the same effects as those attained by the above-described maintenance system.
The consumption degree transmitting means may be configured so that it is connected to the Internet only when the information of the consumption degree is to be transmitted to the manufacturer management apparatus, the information of the consumption degree is then transmitted, and, after the transmission is completed, the connection to the Internet is disconnected. According to the configuration, in the same manner as described above, safety from any unauthorized access and computer virus can be greatly enhanced.